Wanderlei Silva, despite his own statements to the contrary, is not fighting Gegard Mousasi after all.

After speaking to several media outlets on Monday, providing quotes and assuring them it was not an April Fools’ Day joke, Silva admitted on Tuesday that he is not replacing Alexander Gustafsson against Gegard Mousasi on April 6.

It was all an April Fools’ Day hoax.

“I catch you,” Silva tweeted on Tuesday. “Best April first ever!!”

MMAWeekly.com was caught in the midst of the hoax, along with several other outlets, following Silva’s numerous reassurances that he was being honest and had agreed to step in for an injured Gustafsson.

Misleading media outlets is one thing, but the effects of the hoax are even more telling on the actual parties involved.

Gustafsson does have a cut and his fight with Mousasi is in jeopardy. Mousasi has been waiting to hear whether or not he has a new opponent – or even a fight – just five days away from the event.

Mousasi tweeted on Monday, “at this moment I do not have any new info about my situation But if ufc want’s and mr @wandfc is ready for me than let’s Go!”

Many fighters took to twitter on Monday making April Fool’s Day jokes. Tim Kennedy tweeted that he was filling in for Gustafsson. Sara McMann retweeted that her UFC debut would be on hold because she was pregnant with her second child.

Silva took it much further than a couple of tweets, however.

He gave personal statements and interviews talking about the fight and the details of his preparedness. Silva was able to pull off his deception because of his reputation. He is well known for his honesty and candor. The move was out of character, which made it believable to those who have dealt with him over his 17-year career.

We didn’t want to leave it up on the home page and have people that were unaware see the headline and think that he was fighting.

Rest assured, it’s still there in all its glory.

John Bunch

I really want to believe Wand was contacted and Dana shut him down in order to keep selling tickets. I can’t say I know every nuance of Wand’s public persona, but this hoax doesn’t fit any of what I do know of him following him for a decade now.

TheKaveman

Right??? It’s pretty out of character, man. He’s always been a fan favorite and he has to know how disappointed/pissed off his fans would be about him lying like this. I’m thinking Wandy blew the lid on the whole ordeal before Dana wanted him to, and he had to play it off like a joke. Or…he’s brain damaged…and actually thought this was hilarious – in which case…FUCK YOU WANDY!!! ><

Personally, I would love to believe that you are correct because, yes, this seemed out of character, but I don’t believe it was Wand getting shut down. I believe it was Wand and a hoax. If they could make the fight it would have been much less of a hit to the fight card.

phil s

” funny I got you! Best April’s first ever” How stupid. Wand got who? Is wand really that big of an idiot? He sounds like a total goofball . There’s was nothing even a little humorous.
This guy needs a second job if he’s got that much time on his hands where He thought that was a ” funny” idea .
Wow glad that was his” best April first ever”. Guess it doesn’t take much for Wand. Sad really.

Wandy

No need to get your panties all bunched up Gegard. I’m a legend. Bow to your sensei!

gary

wow…seems you took it personal

jbroce

Wandy pulled off the ONLY successful april fools joke i saw yesterday. So all I have to say is well played wandy, well played.

Marco

Simply HIGH-Larious

George S Anderson

Wow… People are taking this way too seriously… IT WAS A JOKE… Gimme a break with this “He is well known for his honesty and candor. The move was out of character…” garbage.